First, a quick instruction. Far East manga read from right to left, the reverse of how the West mostly does it. So, to read the manga above, one starts at the upper right panel, then goes left, then down to the lower right panel, and then goes left. Though the manga panels address a male […]
Archives for 2022
Día de la Fiesta Nacional
The National Day of Spain (Spanish: Fiesta Nacional de España) is a national holiday held annually on October 12. It is also traditionally and commonly referred to as the Día de la Hispanidad (Hispanicity, Spanishness), commemorating Spanish legacy worldwide, especially in Hispanic America. The National Day of Spain is the day of celebration on which […]
On breaking the law and Christian ethics
I took a required ethics class when I was first in seminary in 1974/75. The professor gave us an ethics exercise during the class quarter. I no longer remember whether it was at the beginning or during the latter part of the quarter. We were discussing criminal/civil law and Christian behavior. So, he asked us […]
Dracula, irresistible grace, and reprobation
It has long been noted that Dracula has strong Anglican religious overtones, from its use of sacraments in a High Anglican way to its persistent use of consecrated objects to hold back the tides of Dracula.1 It has also been seen as an example of the inter-Anglican fight between Low Church and High Church advocates.2 […]
Salvation without transformation is damnation.®
Salvation without transformation is damnation.® The Rev. Michael Elmore, D.Min., Ashland Theological Seminary The Rev. Dr. Elmore is a friend of mine. He is a graduate of a two-year C.P.E. residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, IA. He has worked as a hospital and hospice chaplain and volunteered as […]
St. Moses the Black and Prison Ministry
Below is a short article that I wrote for our parish’s newsletter. “Moses the Black, sometimes called the Ethiopian, was a slave of a government official in Egypt who dismissed him for theft and suspected murder. He became the leader of a gang of bandits who roamed the Nile Valley, spreading terror and violence. He […]
Drug abuse in the USA and misleading stories
As you can see from the chart above, drug deaths have come near to quintupling in the 20 years between 1999 and 2020. Partially published reports from 2021 show that the curve continues upward. Anecdotal reports from 2022 show the same. Notice how smooth the curve is. Beginning in 2016 the curve seems to start […]
Karens and the damage to women’s rights
Being a Karen (or Ken) has become a memé. One only needs to go to YouTube® and type in the name “Karen” to receive multiple results in which people are shown to be behaving not merely badly but also ignorantly and criminally. Unlike the memé above, Karens (and Kens) are found in more than one […]
Training our children in the Church
The photograph above is of one of our grandchildren. This is his first day as an altar server. Notice how concentrated he is on going things right. Notice also that there is an adult altar server standing next to him who is his mentor this particular Sunday. This is the way it ought to be. […]
